A broadhead is an arrowhead or tip particularly intended for hunting game. Unlike a target tip, a broadhead has sharp edges or blades that create a profile significantly larger than the diameter of the arrow shaft for penetrating the hide of a game animal and humanly killing it. A broadhead may be considered “fixed” (i.e., having fixed blades that do not move), “mechanical” (i.e., having moving parts that expand the radius profile of one or more blades upon impact), or “hybrid” (i.e., having a combination of fixed and deployable blades). Among mechanical broadheads, some may have blades that are deployed upon axial displacement to pivot or slide from an in-flight position to a deployed position. Others have blades that are hinged at a fixed point with the blade being positioned either forwardly or aftwardly of the pivot point. Prior designs in which the blades extend forwardly of an aft pivot point during flight have been known to consume a significant amount of kinetic energy to deploy because of the steep angle of the folded blade relative to the direction of flight and opposite direction of force applied by impact with the target.
Mechanical broadheads allow the aerodynamic profile of the projectile to be minimized for flight, maintaining velocity and energy to be transferred to the target. Mechanical broadheads seek to maximize mechanical advantage and consume the minimum amount of energy to activate blades, which would otherwise be transferred to the target. A mechanical broadhead may provide an enlarged entry wound, as well as enlarging the wound channel to increase internal damage, resulting in a more human taking of the game animal.